Protein engineering responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Antigen design guided by high-resolution viral glycoprotein structures has successfully generated diverse vaccine candidates for COVID-19. Using conjugation systems to combine antigen design with computationally optimized nanoparticles, researchers have been able to display multivalent antigens with beneficial substitutions that elicited robust humoral immunity with enhanced neutralization potency and breadth. Here, we discuss strategies that have been used for structure-based design and nanoparticle display to develop COVID-19 vaccine candidates as well as potential next-generation vaccine candidates to protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses that emerge into the human population.